Vacations To Cabo San Lucas

Hotels are meant to be your home away from home. Often, though, especially with the advent of boutique and luxury hotels, they are even more than that, they become experiences in and of themselves.

The trend in hotels is towards providing guests with an immersive experience. Hotels have become concepts; no longer is enough to be a stop over. Modern hotels are escapes; they act as little pockets of luxury, of freedom from the normal 9 to five grind.

Everywhere you look there are various themed hotels that have cropped up in all corners of the world. You can find a designer hotel with art themed rooms in practically every major city. There are hotels dedicated to fashion, to music, to being sustainable, to books and to celebrity personalities. And the public loves it.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that your standard luxury hotel has gone out of fashion. These are still very much in vogue. Sitting in the lap of luxury by the seaside sipping Mai Tais and other umbrella cocktails is a standard, especially for the jet setters and those on vacation. You can’t visit the pristine beaches of Phuket or the labyrinthine passage ways of Venice without finding a chic and exclusive hotel featuring big screen LCDs and 24 hour room service. These hotels will always be popular. You can always count on the big luxury chains like the Hilton or Four Seasons to offer you every creature comfort in the book.

But, for those looking for something different, for something a little more off the beaten track, something more adventuresome or creative, there are a host of options out there.

Here’s a look at just some of the latest and most unique hotels you can find in exotic and not so exotic locals around the world.

The Magic Mountain Hotel, located right in the middle of the beautiful and scenic Huilo Huilo nature reserve in Panguipulli, Chile is indeed a sight to behold. The hotel is one of a kind-it was actually constructed in the shape of a mountain. Guests will marvel at the waterfall which springs from the peak of the ‘mountain’ and flows down the sides. As the hotel makes its home in the midst of a forest, guests can go for hikes, enjoy the natural hot tub made from giant wooden logs, participate in white water rafting and go on customized skiing trips.

In Sweden, visitors to Jukkaskjarvi can stay in a hotel made out of pure, solid ice. Although there are several ice hotels in the world, this one was the original Ice Hotel; it’s also the world’s largest hotel made out of ice and snow, covering some 5500 square meters. The hotel started out as a small igloo built on the Torne River, as an art exhibit. Some visitors decided to sleep in the igloo and the ice hotel concept was born from there. Today there are several ice hotels all over the world.

The Harlingen Lighthouse, in Holland served as a beacon for sailors and their ships for over three centuries. Today, the lighthouse had been converted into a romantic getaway for couples. There’s only a few rooms, so book ahead.

The Franklin Feel the Sound Hotel in Rome is all about music. This place is dedicated to good tunes, good design and modern technology. Located a few blocks away from the Vatican in the Prati quarter, this hotel offers guests all the creature comforts including high quality stereo sound systems and vinyl records.